The Executive Chairman of the
Environment Protection Agency of Sierra Leone, Professor Foday Moriba Jaward
joined over 600 stakeholders comprising Ministers, Executive Secretary of the
Green Climate Fund Secretariat, National Designated Authorities or focal
points, Accredited Entities, and others from developing and developed countries
to explore how the Fund can support them in achieving their climate ambitions.
The Executive Chairman of the EPASL took the opportunity to romance with key
environment and Climate Change Specialists as well as the former UN Secretary
General, Ban Ki-Moon who also earlier on emphasized on the importance of the
Green Climate Fund (GCF) in meeting global commitment to mobilize USD100
billion of Climate Finance by developed countries annually by 2020.

Delegates at the Green Climate Fund Summit in South Korea posing for a photo

The conference is held from the
19–23 August 2019, in Songdo, Republic of Korea as part of the GCF’s
contribution to the achievement of the Paris Agreement, ahead of 2020 when
countries will be called to raise their climate ambition targets or Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs). With over USD 5 billion worth of climate
action projects around the world, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is playing a
major role in helping developing countries raise and realize their climate
ambitions.

GCF’s Global Programming Conference
serves as a platform for high level-dialogue on country and entity programming
plans with GCF. The Conference will invite developing countries to discuss the
demand for GCF resources that move them towards low-emission and climate
resilient pathways in line with the objectives of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. It will also be a platform
for Accredited Entities to demonstrate how they can help countries realize this
demand consistent with their capacities and competencies, and for GCF to
consider ways in which its strategy and programming for the first replenishment
period could respond to such demands.

Prof. Jaward was given an
opportunity to make a presentation in the presence of hundreds of delegates
during the Climate Conference in South Korea. Making his presentation on theme
“building an ambitious pipeline of transformational climate interventions in
Sierra Leone”, the Executive Chairman of the EPASL said in 2015, the country
developed a Climate Change Policy together with a low emissions and climate
resilient strategy. He said “the goal of the strategy and the accompanying
action plan is to prepare the government and people of Sierra Leone to limit
their carbon footprint; reduce or minimize risks by improving adaptive
capacity, adapt by reducing vulnerability to climate change impacts and
increasing the resilience and sustainable wellbeing of all citizens; and to
leverage new opportunities and facilitate collaboration in-country and with
regional and global communities”.

He also said the negative
biophysical and socio-economic impacts of climate change will be minimized and
the population will be well positioned to harness new opportunities presented
by climate change financing windows for the implementation of low emissions and
climate resilient development policies and programs. He added that “the
response strategy and action plan aims to maintain the emission levels of
Sierra Leone relatively low or neutral by reducing her carbon footprint and by
following green growth pathways in all economic sectors” as well as further
aims to strengthen the county’s resilience to climate change and its adaptive
capacity, particularly in vulnerable economic sectors and communities.

According to Professor Jaward, as a
Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and
the Paris Agreement, Sierra Leone through the EPASL had put forward wide
ranging plans to pursue climate actions through the implementation of the
Nationally Determine Contributions (NDCs) which has a wide range of priority
actions which “we want to build into ambitious pipeline projects for funding by
the Green Climate Fund (GCF)”.

Furthermore, Dr. Jaward told the
gathering that the Environment Protection Agency of Sierra Leone had drafted a
National Climate Finance Framework (NCFF) that will enhance the establishment
of a National Climate Change Fund (NCCF) which will help the country to
mobilize resources both domestic and international from various climate
financing windows including the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The country also has
other related policies like the National Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency,
Forestry, National Environment, National Land, and the National water and
sanitation policies. All of these he said “influence the country’s decision
especially in the implementation of a climate resilient solution”.

Commenting further on the support
the country had received, Dr. Jaward said Sierra Leone had received tremendous
support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) ranging from the country technical
support from the regional GCF Advisor in drafting the General Readiness
Proposal and Pipeline Support, approved capacity building support for the EPA
accreditation process, guidance on Readiness proposal which has been submitted
for approval and guidance on the drafting of the country’s National Adaptation
Plan (NAP).

Sierra Leone has a national policy
on Private Public Partnership (PPP) that supports the private sector engagement
to facilitate economic growth and development. Dr. Jaward said most of the
frameworks developed had an element of private sector involvement especially in
the implementation of priority areas and “we are building synergies with
existing private sector programmes for expansion” adding that “we hope to use
the readiness funds when approved to expand the scope of operations and create
a platform for private sector to meet and exchange ideas and support the
effective implementation of climate initiatives already spelt-out in the
country’s Nationally Determined Contribution document”.

The country has also developed a
National Midterm Development Plan (NMTDP 2019-2013) which is the country’s new
development trajectory document. “This shows our aspirations to sustainable
development and environmental sustainability with an element of a monitoring
and evaluation (M&E) Framework for government monitoring of deliverables”.
This document specifies the role of the private sector in stimulating economic growth
and development and it highlights key interventions to facilitate private
sector involvement in developing and implementing an ambitious pipeline
programme.

It is hoped that such a high level
engagement would help to mobilize much needed revenue for the implementation of
green and environmentally sustainable projects within various sectors in Sierra
Leone.